Through a series of plenaries and break-out sessions dealing with the challenges of implementing integrated disaster risk research, inter-organisational collaboration, and interaction with policy-makers, as well as the coordination with activities aimed at promoting sustainable development and climate change adaptation. Sessions addressed the full range of environmental hazards, vulnerability, and sustainability, in both global and local contexts.

The IRDR Conference 2014 brought together some 200 leading experts and some of the best of an emerging cohort of young researchers in the field of disaster risk reduction from all academic and professional backgrounds to help create a “global IRDR community,” and bring continued worldwide attention to the IRDR programme.

Loren LEGARDA is a Senator in the 16th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines. She is the Chairperson for the Senate Committee on Climate Change and the Senate Oversight Committee on Climate Change. As the chair of the Senate Oversight Committee on Climate Change, Senator LEGARDA ensures that climate change is addressed as a national priority and considered in policy making and development planning. Senator LEGARDA has also spearheaded an information and education campaign on climate change in the Philippines, producing films that seek to explain the science of climate change, its impact on everyday lives and how Filipinos can avert and adapt to the changing climate. In 2008, the UNISDR appointed her as its Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaption for Asia and the Pacific during the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in December 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Makoto MIZUTANI is a Counselor within the Reconstruction Agency of the Government of Japan. He joined the Government of Japan (Ministry of Transport) in 1987. He is engaged in the planning, processing, design, and management of transport projects in Japan and developing countries. He moved to the Reconstruction Agency as a Counselor in 2012, and has been engaged in the reconstruction of infrastructure from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Virginia MURRAY was appointed Consultant in Global Disaster Risk Reduction for Public Health England (PHE) in April 2014, to focus on her continuing support for PHE’s international work where she is vice-chair of the UNISDR Scientific and Technical Group and as a member of the UNISDR Advisory Group for the Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Prior to this, she was Head of Extreme Events and Health Protection, PHE from January 2011 to March 2014. With the Extreme Events team, she developed evidence based information and advice on flooding, heat, cold, volcanic ash, and other extreme weather and natural hazards events. Before this, she worked for Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards for PHE, formerly known as the Health Protection Agency and has also had extensive experience in chemical incident training, preparedness and response. Appointed as Visiting Professor in Health Protection, MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College and King’s College, London (2004), she has also published widely.

Bill NICOL is an independent management strategist and investigative author. He oversaw the recovery of Aceh following the 2004 tsunami as senior adviser to the Indonesian Government. His contributions included writing the overarching recovery strategy, designing key elements of the coordinating architecture, and supporting the Indonesian Government in managing its international relationships. He is author of Tsunami Chronicles: Adventures in Disaster Management (2013), a six-volume study of Aceh’s recovery and subsequent lessons. His earlier books include an investigation of the man-made humanitarian disaster that followed East Timor’s rushed decolonisation by Portugal, Timor: The Stillborn Nation (1978), which was later updated and republished as Timor: A Nation Reborn (2002); and an exposé of scientific fraud and mismanagement, McBride: Behind the Myth (1989).

Mark PELLING is Professor of Geography at King’s College London. His research interests are in the institutions and social relationships that shape vulnerability and adaptation to natural disasters, including those associated with climate change, and in the ways in which conflicting values and practices of development inform resilience and transformation in the face of environmental change. He has served as a coordinating author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) and its Fifth Assessment Report.

He currently serves on the IRDR’s Science Committee, as well as that of the IGBP-IHDP core project Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ). He has consulted on adaptation and disaster risk reduction issues for several agencies including the UK Environment Agency, DFID, UNDP and UN-HABITAT.

The IRDR IPO is now in the process of contacting all persons who submitted abstracts for the consideration of the Conference Organising Committee. Here are general and specific information for both oral and poster presenters.

Information for All Presenters

Registration fees for presenters have been waived. When filling out the registration form, select “Invited Delegate” as your Registration Type, which shows there is no registration fee.

You will need your abstracts’ ID#s to complete your registrations. Beginning with “T…,” this number was sent in a confirmation email once your abstracts were successfully submitted via the abstract online form. Please contact kerry-ann.morris@irdrinternational.org if you do not have your abstracts’ ID#s.

English is the official language of the Conference. All oral and poster presentations must be prepared in English.

If you are unable to present your paper at the Conference, please contact the Organising Committee as soon as possible to either withdraw your abstract or to advise that another author will present on your behalf. Send an email to kerry-ann.morris@irdrinternational.org about this as soon as possible.

Information for Oral Presenters

Please see the Conference programme for the sessions, dates and times of your respective presentations.

If the accompanying guest needs to attend the sessions, please register through regular registration and pay the regular registration fee.

If the accompanying guest only needs to attend the banquet, the registration fee is RMB500.

Refund Policy

Confirmed registrants requesting refunds before 1 January 2014, will receive 100% of their registration fee.

Confirmed registrants requesting refunds between 1 January and 15 March 2014, will receive 50% of their registration fees.

No refunds will be granted to confirmed registrants requesting refunds on or after 16 March 2014.

N.B: The on-line registration system will close on 30 May 2014 at 24:00 (Beijing time).

The second IRDR conference will take place at the Beijing International Convention Center (BICC) from 7 to 9 June 2014. Situated in northern Beijing, BICC is ideally located for those attending this year’s conference, being just 25km from the Beijing Capital International Airport, and in very close proximity to the hotels, which the Organising Committee has reserved rooms for conference participants: the Beijing North Star Continental Grand Hotel and the Huiyuan Media Village Hotel.

BICC’s Facilities and Services

As a member of International Association of Congress Centers (AIPC) and the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), BICC is especially designed for conferences and exhibitions. BICC’s total building space is 68,802.54 square meters, comprising 16 conference halls and meeting rooms, serving a wide variety of meeting purposes, and accommodating 10 to 2,300 participants.

Views of two of BICC’s conference rooms, including conference room no. 2 (right), which the Conference will be using. (Source: CICCST)

The conference facilities at BICC include:

Simultaneous interpretation systems*

Television projection systems

Acoustic system

Multi-track stereophonic sound pana-vision projection systems

Various types of high brightness epidiascopes and projectors

Recording systems

* We will only provide simultaneous translations, from English to Chinese, during the Opening Ceremony only.

Wireless internet access will be provided free of charge in the conference area.

To go to BICC, you may print and show this card to the taxi driver:

The Organising Committee has secured accommodation for conference participants in two hotels located in close proximity to BICC: Beijing North Star Continental Grand Hotel and Huiyuan Media Village Hotel.

Visa Information

Chinese Visa

A valid passport and a visa are required for entry into China. Visas can be obtained from your local Chinese Embassy or the nearest Consulate General. Japanese and Singaporean participants holding a private passport and staying in China for not more than 15 days do not need a visa. Early registration is advised so that adequate time is allowed for obtaining visas.

To obtain a business visa, participants can provide passport information at online registration and a scanned copy of passport so that the organizer can prepare and send an official visa invitation letter, which lists the city where the applicant should apply for the visa, the passport data, the gender of the applicant and the accompanying persons, the date of entry and the length of stay. Alternatively, participants can apply for a tourist visa through a travel agent after booking air tickets and completing hotel reservation.

How can I get my visa to China?

There are two ways to get your visa. The first is to register with the congress and pay an appropriate registration fee. If the information of your passport is supplied, an official invitation will be mailed to you or a scanned copy of the invitation emailed to you for your visa application. The second is to ask your travel agent to arrange a tourist visa for you. Those from Japan and Singapore with an ordinary passport do not need an entry visa if they stay less than 15 days.

Can I apply for visa in the country where I am working but not a citizen?

Yes, if you have a permanent residence permit. But in addition to the documents required for visa application, you should provide a photocopy of the permanent residence permit or social security card to support your application.

When can I receive the official invitation for visa from the organizer?

As soon as we receive your appropriate payment of registration fee, the invitation letter will be issued to you. Depending on the delivery conditions, three to four weeks for the post delivery should be anticipated.

How long is a visa valid?

A Chinese visa is good for 90 days from the date of issuance. Within 90 days, you can enter China, and from the date of your entrance, you can stay in China for at most 30 days (the duration period is written in the visa label) if the visa is still valid. But the visa can be extended for a month at the Foreigners Section of the Beijing Public Security Bureau if necessary.

When should I go to the embassy/consulate to claim my visa?

Since a visa is valid for 90 days, you may start your application 90 days before your planned departure from China. We suggest that you apply for the entry visa one month before your planned arrival.

Can I go to any Chinese Consulate-General or Embassy to apply for my visa?

First, you should make the application in your own country or the country where you have a permanent residence. Then, if there is more than one Chinese diplomatic mission, you are supposed to apply to the Chinese Consular post that holds jurisdiction over your area of residence. Otherwise, complication or delay in processing or even denial of application may result.

General Information

Weather and Climate

Beijing enjoys a typical continental yet affable monsoon climate. It has distinctive four seasons, the brief blooming spring, the long hot summer, the golden fruitful autumn and the brisk harsh winter. The weather in June is a bit hot, with average high temperature of 30 ºC and low temperature of 20 ºC. The average rainfall is 70 mm.

Currency

In China, only Chinese Yuan (CNY, another way of saying it is Renminbi, RMB) is used. Currency exchange can be made at banks or exchange agencies at airports, hotels and large shopping centers. At present, the exchange rate is about CNY6.18 for 1USD. Notes come in 100, 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1 Yuan denominations. Coins come in 10c, 50c denominations. Major international credit cards such as Visa, Master, American Express, Diners Club, JCB are accepted in many department stores and hotels.

Insurance

The conference does not accept any liability for personal accidents or loss or damage to the private property of participants during the conference or indirectly arising from attending the conference. It is advisable that participants should have adequate travel and health insurances before leaving their own countries.

Personal Safety

Beijing is safe but you still have to keep an eye on your passports and valuables, especially when in crowded areas. In case of loss of passport, please call the local police at 110 and the embassy of your country as well.

First Aid and Medical Service

The telephone number for the first aid is 120 or 999. Several hospitals in Beijing are staffed with English speaking doctors. The China-Japan Friendship Hospital is 1.5km away from BICC and this is where participants may receive first-aid medical treatment if necessary.

Smoking

Smoking is not allowed at the Conference Venue, Beijing International Convention Center.

Tipping

In most parts of China, tipping is generally not expected. However in large metropolises, tipping has become more common and may be expected in large hotels. In addition, most large hotels and restaurants charge a service fee of 15%.

Electricity

The electric current in China is 220V, 50hz. Most hotels have built-in converters in bathrooms for shavers and hair dryers. Please note that a variety of plug types are used in China and adaptors may be necessary. Two types of sockets are used in China: three-pin socket (a grounding pin and two flat prongs forming a V-shape) and two-pin socket (two flat parallel prongs without grounding). See the photo below:

Transport

Beijing is a rapidly growing international metropolis with an extensive transport resource. Beijing is readily accessible worldwide. Currently there are two commercial airports, four railway stations, sixteen subway-rail lines including one connecting the Beijing Capital International Airport with the city center, more than 400 bus and trolley bus routes, as well as about 70,000 taxis.

International Travel

Ranking 2nd in the world in terms of passenger traffic, Beijing Capital International Airport currently maintains direct international/regional airlink with 80 cities all over the world. In addition to China’s own airlines, such as Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, 56 foreign airline companies operate regular flights to and from Beijing, which include NW Airlines, United Airlines, Air France, Aeroflot Russian, All Nippon Airways, Scandinavia Airways System, Lufthansa, KLM, Continental Airlines, Qantas, Air Canada, Mexicana, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, El Al Israel Airlines, EgyptAir, Emirates, and Ethiopian Airlines, among others. Passengers not able to access Beijing with direct flights will usually require only one transfer to arrive.

Local Transport

Beijing Capital International Airport is 35km from downtown Beijing and 25km to the venue, BICC. There are shuttle buses from the airport to main points in the city every 15 minutes. Taxis are always available at the airport whenever there are flights. Taxis are metered. Please pay the taxi fare shown on the meter when you get off. The machine will also print out receipts automatically for you. The cost of a taxi from the airport to the conference venue or hotels is about CNY120, or US$ 20. The following note in Chinese will help you get to the conference venue:

请带我去亚运村北京国际会议中心，谢谢。

“Please drive me to Beijing International Convention Center. Thanks.”

Beijing Subway

The subway construction in Beijing started in 1965 and the first line opened to traffic in 1969. After 48 years’ construction, there are 16 subway-rail lines in operation now including one connecting Beijing Capital International Airport with the city center. The Olympic Subway Station of Line 8 located near BICC links the Olympic Green with the city center.